by L. A. Sable
Carter’s eyes are closed with lips slack as if he really did just decide to take a nap in this awkward position. At my shoulder tap, his neck lolls to the side because that light touch is enough to knock him off-balance but it isn’t enough to wake him up.
But I don’t notice the blood until I pull back my fingers and they’re bright red. And then I see the knife protruding from the chest.
Maybe I scream or yell, it’s impossible to know because my mind has so completely separated from my body. I hear pounding footsteps in the hallway and then Millie’s blood-curdling screams, but I remain frozen in place as I stare down at the last person left to give this de facto family any meaning. It feels like the floor is falling out from underneath my feet and I’m falling into oblivion.
“He’s still breathing,” she shouts, voice more commanding than I’ve ever heard it. “Come help me get him on the floor.”
My body moves on autopilot but I’m able to help her grab a throw from across the back of an armchair and use it to staunch the flow of blood around the knife wound. Carter’s eyes flutter briefly and he mumbles something as we lay him down on the now ruined carpet, but I can’t make out what he’s trying to say.
Millie uses the phone on the desk to call 911 while I kneel next to Carter and watch his breathing slow. It’s impossible to know how long he’s been there, but judging from the growing pool of blood around his body the wound is fresh.
Which means maybe they can save him.
Carter is unconscious again, but thankfully still breathing, when the paramedics arrive and get him loaded onto a stretcher. Their stony faces and mechanical movements don’t give me much confidence that this is the sort of wound that can be survived, but they move quickly. Outside, the ambulance lights send dancing red and blue flashes into the sky that are probably visible from a mile away.
Detective Mabely steps in front of me when I move to follow the ambulance.
“What happened?” he asks.
I gesture distractedly at the departing ambulance. “I have to go see about Carter.”
“He’s in a good hands, trust me. Tell me who did this?”
“I don’t know. He asked me to come see him and when I walked in, he was like that. Maybe Millie saw something.”
“My partner is speaking to her now. Did you see anything else?”
I tell him about the broken window. His eye narrow and he jots something down on his little notebook. The night stretches out around us and I wonder what’s lurking out there. Or who?
“Why would someone do this?” I murmur to myself.
Mabely sighs and slaps his notepad closed. “Well, we have to assume that Asher Bellamy is involved, given what he’s been accused of.”
I blink, confused. “Asher is in jail.”
“He made his bond this morning. He’s been a free man all day. Someone was supposed to notify you.”
A string of incompatible emotions stirs in me, but I’m not smart enough to be scared for myself. “Jesus.”
“The hospital will keep the knife as evidence once they’ve removed it. We’ll run for prints, of course, but Asher is the most likely suspect.”
Asher would have to be the stupidest guy on earth to make the same mistake twice. I have no doubts that the knife will come back clean. “What am I supposed to do?”
“Do you have someone you can stay with?”
“What do you think?” I just shake my head before he can answer. It’s not Detective Mabely’s fault that I’m quickly running out of people to rely on. “I have to get to the hospital.”
“We’ll send you with a police escort. Until Asher is apprehended, we have to assume that you might be a target.”
I stumble toward my car, turning my back on the pity in his eyes. Asher Bellamy doesn’t scare me and if he’s gunning for me, then bring it on.
I’ll kill him myself.
Carter is going to live, but just barely. The doctors have to put him in a medically-induced coma to give his body a chance to heal, which means he can’t confirm that Asher is the one who stabbed him. Not that I need the confirmation at this point. Asher got out of jail on the same day that Carter gets almost fatally stabbed, doesn’t take an idiot to connect those dots.
Jayden gets to the hospital after I’ve been there for a few hours. I’ve been sitting in the waiting room for what feels like my entire life. Even though Carter has been stabilized, I haven’t left because I have no idea where I’m supposed to go.
He takes one look at my face and wraps me up in a tight hug without saying a word.
I’d love to say that being in his arms makes me feel safe, but that isn’t an emotion I’m capable of producing anymore.
“How did you know I was here?” I ask into his shoulder.
“That detective called me to ask if I’ve seen Asher and he told me you were here with Carter. How is he?”
“Stable for now, but he’s in a coma.”
“Christ.” He grips my arm and pulls me toward the door. “Let’s get you out of here.”
I pull away from him. “I’m not going back to Black Lake.”
“Where it will be super easy for Asher to get to you? No shit. I’m taking you a hotel. Lukas and Kai are going to meet us there. We’ll all hole up until the police track Asher down.”
My sightless gaze takes in the sterile hospital walls. “He really did it, didn’t he?”
Jayden just shakes his head. “It looks that way. I won’t pretend to understand it.”
“Regardless, you can’t just run off with me. You guys have class on Monday.”
“Fuck that. Like I’m going to sit in class wondering if you’re okay. We’re in this together.”
“I have to pack a bag.”
“No, you don’t. Anything you need we can buy on the way. You’re not going back to that house, it will be the first place Asher goes looking for you.”
I let him lead me out the sliding glass doors of the emergency room. “You really think he’ll come after me?”
“First your mom, now Carter, pretty safe to assume you’ll be next.”
In the parking lot, Lukas and Kai are just getting out of a cab they must have called to bring them here from the school.
“Thanks for waiting, jackass,” Lukas shouts across the parking lot as he pays the driver. “We could have ridden together.”
Jayden shrugs, looking far from apologetic.
I hold out my keys, not caring which of them takes them. Right now, I don’t have any interest in taking control of anything, much less a motor vehicle.
But Kai stops Jayden before he gets in the driver’s seat. “Shouldn’t somebody check the brake lines?”
They laugh uneasily like it’s a joke, but then Lukas crawls under the car using his phone as a flashlight to inspect the undercarriage. “Everything looks fine.”
Jayden nods but he takes it slow as we pull out of the hospital parking lot onto the main road, testing the brake pad every few seconds to make sure it’s still working like it should.
The situation would almost be funny if it wasn’t so deadly serious.
Turns out that their version of hiding out is a penthouse suite at the Ritz-Carlton in Westchester. I can’t expect them to camp out in some squalid motel by the highway, but this is probably more than we need.
In the room, I collapse onto the huge sectional sofa, black leather cool against my skin. It isn’t until now when I’ve finally stopped moving that I realize how exhausted I am. It will be dawn in only a few more hours and I’ve been up pretty much all night. All I want to do is fall asleep and not wake up until this nightmare is over.
“You can take the bedroom,” Lukas comments as he locks the deadbolt on the door. “I bet you’re ready to pass out.”
“I didn’t want to presume,” I say weakly. Not to mention that whoever sleeps in that bed should be sharing it. “Thank you guys, for all this. You probably never thought this is where we’d end up when we met.”
“Oh, you know
we love you.” He says it casually, but for a moment it’s like all the air has been sucked out of the room and it’s hard for me to breathe. None of them say anything, obviously waiting to see how I respond.
“The feeling is definitely mutual.”
And I realize that I do love them, even if it’s hard for me to put it into words.
I love Asher too, which is what makes all of this so much harder.
Suddenly I’m shaking and I don’t even know why. Lukas gets to me first because, like always, he doesn’t hesitate. My body hits the wall of his chest and I’m engulfed in the powerful circle of his arms. They wrap around me so tightly I can almost forget all the trauma that exists outside of his embrace.
Kai presses against my back, the heat of him making me feel like I might melt into a puddle of feeling. His lips brush the back of my neck gently and I shiver in response.
Jayden moves up to my side and they make room for him until I’m at the center of a circle of male bodies. It makes me feel secured, and protected, even the feeling only lasts as long as it takes me to remember what brought us here.
“Off to bed with you,” Jayden gently disengages and pushes me toward the separate bedroom. “You look like you’re about to fall over.”
I don’t know why it makes me feel like I’m being rejected when they all nod in agreement, but I turn away and head to the bedroom. The room has two bathrooms, because of course it does. I use the one attached to the bedroom, brushing my teeth with the cheap courtesy toothbrush and washing my face.
It isn’t until I catch sight of my reflection in the mirror that I realize how slowly I’m moving, as if the shock of it all has finally set in. My reflected face is wan and drawn and I can only imagine how much worse it will be in the morning when I put the same clothes back on.
When I step back into the bedroom, the bed looks as inviting as any totally flat surface would when I’m feeling this exhausted. I collapse onto it and close my eyes with a relief.
But sleep remains elusive and I stare at up at the darkened ceiling with growing frustration.
The screen on my phone glows an absurd time and I set it down with disgust. Like some perverse thing, the more I try to force myself to sleep, the more my brain resists the compulsion.
My phone buzzes with a notification, and I check it with a resigned sigh.
CHARLIE: Went to your room looking for you, but you’d already left. I heard about Carter on the news and that Asher is on the run. I hope you’re okay!
If it were anybody else, I’d assume they were just hoping to get a little gossip or more of the story to spread around. But I could already see the concern etched into the frowning lines of her face. Considering the time, she must have just heard about what happened.
LILY: I’m doing okay, especially after everything that’s happened. Carter is going to live, thank God, but I’m not coming back until they find Asher.
CHARLIE: I just can’t believe he would do this! You really think he would come after you, especially after how close you guys have gotten?
Perversely, it’s almost easier to talk about this via text message when I can’t see the person’s face. I don’t have to look away from their pity or see that expression people get when they slow down to look at car crashes, fascination mixed with an awed sort of fear.
LILY: They always say that you never really know a person. I mean, he comforted me after my mom died. It just makes me sick to think about now. Clearly, I have no idea what he’ll do. Better safe than sorry, though. You heard I’m the one who found Carter, right?
CHARLIE: Oh wow! I didn’t know that. You must have been so scared.
LILY: Maybe. But now I’m just angry.
CHARLIE: Are you sure it’s a good idea to just hide out like this? Can’t the police do something to protect you?
LILY: Like they did Carter? They didn’t even bother to tell us that Asher got out on bail. I don’t even understand how he paid it because Carter froze his accounts.
CHARLIE: Well, I’m always here if you need anything. Stay safe!
LILY: I’ll do my best!
I set the phone down on the bedside table and try to relax into the thousand thread count sheets. Texting with Charlie has made me feel inexplicably better. The thoughts that have pinging around my mind have slowed down enough that some tension has left my body. My head hits the pillow, one minute I’m awake and the next I’ve passed out.
I wake up with someone else’s legs tangled up around my own. It takes several minutes of shifting on the sheets and pulling on the comforter that keeps catching for me to realize that I’m not alone in the bed.
My sleep caked eyes crack open and I look blearily around the room. And then I realize that I’m really not alone in the bed.
I’m in the center of a man sandwich. It’s Jayden’s legs that are wrapped up with mine as he presses up against my back. I’m facing Lukas with my hand resting on his chest. Kai is on his brother’s other side, lying on his back with his arm thrown over his eyes. I have no idea when they all crawled into bed with me, but I’m definitely not complaining about it.
Suddenly, I’m wide awake. Judging from the quality of light coming in through the gossamer curtains it’s way too early for me to be up considering how late it was when I fell asleep, but my inner clock doesn’t seem to care.
When I shift and lean over Jayden to reach my phone on the bedside the table, the movement is enough to wake him up. His eyes don’t open but his arms tighten around me.
“What are you doing?” He murmurs the question, breath whispering against the back of my neck.
“Checking the time.”
“It’s almost seven.”
“I’m going back to sleep.” But I know that won’t actually be possible, even as I say it. My mind has obviously decided that fours hours of sleep is more than enough.
Jayden’s morning wood presses between the cleft of my ass. I shift against it on the pretense of stretching, teasing him just because I can. He chuckles darkly and bites down gently on the back of my neck. “Don’t tempt me.”
But he’s already moving against me, grinding. His hands grip my hips and force me back against him. I only wore my underwear to bed and I can feel the entire length of him through the thin fabric of my panties. An answering tingle has already started up between my legs and I know if he goes searching, he’ll figure out quickly that I’m wet as an ocean.
I shift enough to turn over my shoulder, my searching mouth finding his with ease. The kiss is unhurried, but full of heat as he explores my mouth and his hips continue to grind against my ass.
He deepens the kiss as his hand slides up my side, then he freezes. “Fuck, did I say it was almost seven?”
“You did.”
To my surprise he levers himself off the bed. “I have to go. I have an appointment at the police station.”
A shiver of worry works its way down my spine. “They want to talk to you?”
“I’ve known Asher longer than pretty much anyone. They want me to come down and answer some questions, maybe figure out where he might go.”
I roll over to watch him pull on his jeans, admiring the curve of his ass before it’s hidden away. “It can’t wait?”
“Apparently not.” He buttons his shirt and looks down at me with a soft smile. “It shouldn’t take more than an hour and I’ll come back with breakfast.”
I shift onto my back, arching up so his gaze can’t help but be drawn to my breasts. “Are you sure you have to go?”
“I’ll be back.” He leans forward for one more hard kiss and then jerks his head in the direction over my shoulder. “And I’m not leaving you alone.”
“They’re both asleep.”
“Not for long.”
He’s gone before I can think of a retort.
The room is still dim, even with the bit of light coming through the curtains. Even though the furnishings are clearly high-end, I can’t help but notice how soulless the hotel room is, just like they a
ll are. Hotel rooms have no past and no future, just an endless supply of the present for whoever needs it.
Hotel rooms are frozen in time, just like we are.
But eventually, the real world will force us to catch back up.
I tell myself not to worry about Jayden, even though I don’t want him out of my sight. Asher won’t go after his best friend, I think. But a day ago, I would have said that he wouldn’t go after his grandfather either.
So I close my eyes because I can’t think of any other way to escape the turmoil of my thoughts.
I only realize that I’ve fallen asleep when I snap awake. The covers are pulled back, sending cool air from the overhead fan blowing over my skin, but that isn’t enough to stop the heat rising in me. A messy riot of dark red hair is bent over my stomach, pressing soft kisses into the skin that make my belly clench.
He must feel the new tension in my body because Kai raises his head and gives me a dreamy smile. “There she is.”
My breath caught in my throat, from both anxiety and anticipation. “What are you doing?”
“We have a few things to discuss, don’t you think?”
Fingers tangle in my hair and pull my head back so I’m staring in Lukas’s eyes, so bright their like cut diamonds. He uses the exact amount of pressure that he needs to catch my attention and no more, but I like how easily he takes control. His head lowers slowly, giving me plenty of time to protest or pull away. But there’s no hesitation in him as he claims my mouth in a consuming kiss.